I need to install some modern track bumpers. I’m leaning towards the Walthers 933-3511 kits. Can some of you folks recommend them or something like them, or maybe a design for some I can build myself? Maybe post some photos of completed, installed bumpers.
Thanks,
Jim
I don’t recall who makes them, but this style bumper is probably on the shelf at your LHS for around $5.00. I bought one a few years ago, and then continued to make more from scratch. If you can solder well, buy a stick of 3/32" brass flat stock, and a stick of 1/4" flat (about $2.38 total). I guess you could glue the assy together with CA, but haven’t tried. Use scrap rails for the diagonal braces, the 3/32" brass flat for the strapping, and cut a small piece of the 1/4" flat for the bumping pad. You can make about 8-10 of these for under $3.00!
Jeremy
P.S. I will include photos of the ones I have made.
Rails might work but from this photo they look more like steel beams. Maybe one can use some Evergreen or Plastruct I-beams. Also, since the bumping pad is supposed to hit the coupler head-on, make sure you use a coupler height gauge for reference.
The bumper in the photo looks like the ones Walthers sells.
I just buy those Atlas ready-made track bumper on a section of the track so I don’t need to dress the end of the track as well. They are about $3 a pair or something. For my yard,I actually use the Model Power lighted ones to help me ID which track has power.
I’ve used them and like the Walthers bumpers. Be prepared to glue your fingers together when assembling them. I don’t like the Atlas bumpers because they just don’t look very realistic to me. Unfortunately I don’t have any good pictures right now. Here’s the only one I could find:
Cool photos - thanks!
I’m going to start with a Walthers kit. There was a thread a while back that I found that describes mounting them to scale timbers that mount against the ties to make them very resistant to pushing cars off the edge. If I need more than the kit comes with, I’ll probably try making my own. I like the idea of the brass stock, but obviously one needs not to cause a short-circuit.
Jim
Hi Jim,
I’ve used mostly the Walther’s bumpers you mentioned and found them easy to build and install. Once you’ve built one, the other 11 in the kit go together in a few minutes. I checked the Walther’s web site and they are on sale right now for $7.98 and you get a dozen. That works out to be less than 70 cents each…so I wouldn’t bother trying to build them yourself.
The good thing is that they are plastic…some of the bumpers on the market are metal so you have to cut gaps in your rail just in front of the bumper to prevent shorts.
Hope this helps.
Mondo
I have also seen that some metal bumpers come with insulated rail joiners. I don’t which is worse, having to cut the rail, or use the insulated joiners.
I have track bumpers similar to that that I got from Bachmann. Properly weathered, they look really good!
This may be something of interest: http://www3.telus.net/public/crowley/track_bumpers.htm
Jim, are these the ones you’re talking about?
Tom
MR did a little workshop article about building these with pieces of track - don’t recall the issue though but they looked good. I believe the article was within the last 2 years - I’ll have a look around.
Yup, 1train1 is correct. November 2005 (page 70) had a one page spread on making these puppies out of spare rails and brass stock. I am hoping to start making about 18 of these this spring for the layout at OMRS ( www.omrs-wa.org ). They end up looking a lot like the photo at the beginning of this thread.
Tom - yes, that’s the one. I also turned up the round ones built with a nail - pretty cool. I’m going to see about getting one of the walthers kits.
Thanks,
Jim
I was at Los Angeles Union Station earlier this evening and snapped the track bumpers at the terminal. Check out the springs! Maybe you can use some spare Kadee coupler springs…
The metal pole behind the bumper has a sign that reads “END OF BLOCK.”
John,
I remember that article. The one thing that I wish MR had done was to be more descriptive with their fabrication process. Sometimes words AND the right kind of photos say it all.
I believe the article had a few diagrams, but it wasn’t always as clear to a novice RRer like myself.
Tom
Here are a few photos of the bumpers I made. They are not completely prototypical, but they kind of, “model” the prototype. Soldering these together isn’t easy.
Jeremy
Nice work mtrails. They may not be easy but they look great. I’ve used several different types, plastic and metal, also the small “shoe” types seen on sidings. The Walthers ones are easy and look good, you do have to be careful with any metal ones, shorts can become a problem even if you gap the rails. If you use metal couplers/wheels/trucks, a short can occur when they touch the bumper.
Tilden
This photo has the Walthers track bumpers as mention way above:
